Coalescence
by hl sekai
Summary: She hated him but not really. A journey through Hoenn summarized into drabbles. Hoennshipping.
1. Chapter 1

Late Valentines thing.

Anyway, notes:

Animeverse AU I think. Maybe a bit of gameverse. I have no idea.

For the sake of things making a bit more sense, I raised the trainer traveling age thing to thirteen because ten always seemed really weird to me. Especially if they're traveling alone in a jungle or an underwater cave or whatever.

Also for their birthdays I just took Ruby and Sapphire's birthdays and swapped them. So July 2 for May and September 20 for Brendan. Then added a year to Brendan because I can.

Regarding Brendan's Pokemon, I just used what the anime cameos showed him with, and threw in stuff from his in game team as the rival.

Anyway.

* * *

 **Coalescence**

She was six, and he was seven.

Her family lived in Goldenrod. Their parents were close friends and one day the Birches came to visit from another region and brought their son. While the adults talked and laughed and eventually got really drunk, the two of them played outside.

She was afraid of him at first, because he was a stranger. But she watched him play with a Sentret with a stick and feed it cookies, and decided he couldn't be that bad.

Then he convinced her to climb a tree and she did and got stuck and decided she hated him and it was all his fault both their parents and even her four year old brother were laughing at her and she was never talking to him again.

He apologized after, and she was going to forgive him, but he let out a giggle at the very end and she hated him again.

…

She moved to Hoenn a couple years later, and discovered he lived next door. She went up to his room and he wasn't there, and she waited for him for half an hour before his mother noticed and told her he had gone out to help his dad with work.

Then he came back and they went about five minutes before he said she was dumb for not just asking his mother where he was, and she absolutely hated him and didn't talk to him for a couple of days, and this time it actually was his fault.

…

She had always been nervous around Pokemon.

There were exceptions. She helped Vigoroth clean up the house every week and it was one of her best friends. She liked to cling on to Slaking's head sometimes as it ate, and every minor motion it made extracted a burst of giggles from her. And when it was cold she would take a nap in front of the fire with Linoone and Furret.

But Pokemon from outside made her nervous. She never really understood why, and her mother said she was timid, but she didn't really know what that meant.

He was different. He was always playing with Pokemon outside.

Sometimes she watched him from the window, and sometimes she was brave enough to bring out a blanket or a chair and sit nearby.

A Poochyena growled at her once, and she was scared, but he scolded and it whined like it was apologizing, and she wondered if he was a Pokemon trainer.

She asked him and he laughed at her and asked her if she really didn't know what a Pokemon trainer was, and she hated him for it.

When she finally started talking to him again he told her no, he wasn't, but one day he was going to become Champion. And she didn't know what that meant either but she believed him.

…

His first Pokemon was an egg. He was nine.

She asked him if they were supposed to cook it, and he gave her, as her mother described, through a fit of laughter, "the most incredulous look", and she went and got a dictionary and looked up incredulous but still had no idea what it meant, but guessed that they weren't going to cook it.

It hatched and it was a Mudkip. It was cute and she wanted to name it something cute like Snuffles or Muddy or Bloo.

He didn't nickname it. Its name was going to simply be Mudkip. When it evolved, it would be Marshtomp, and then Swampert. When she asked him why, he simply shrugged and said the professionals didn't nickname their Pokemon. It was how her dad did it, it was how the trainers on Battle Tower Live did it, and it was how Steven did it. So it was how he was going to do it.

She asked him why he got a Pokemon and she didn't. He said it was because he was a year older than her. She reminded him it was only ten months. He insisted that was practically a year and he was more responsible anyway, and if she had gotten one she would have probably tried to cook it.

She really hated him sometimes.

…

They went to trainer school together. One of the classes was mixed with second and third years. She sat behind him and sometimes copied his test answers. He never officially told her she could, but he made no effort to hide his paper either. She would bring him snacks the next day. It was like a business partnership.

Sometimes he put the wrong answers on purpose and had her copy it, only to correct it after she had turned her paper in.

One time the teacher asked her to stay after class and asked why she thought Zigzagoon was known for the move Explosion, and there went another week of not talking to him.

He graduated trainer school and spent his summer training with Mudkip. She spent hers watching him. She had no idea why, as it was actually very boring. But she did it anyway.

"Why do you practice all day?" she would ask him.

"I want to become Champion," was his simple reply.

And eventually summer break ended and she started school. He came to walk her home every day, even though she was getting to the age where that was gross.

She pretended she wasn't sad when his thirteenth birthday came in September. It was a weekend and they went together to the Pokemon Center in Oldale Town so he could register for the League. She sniffed a bit and wiped her eyes while they waited, and when he asked her what was wrong she told him she had allergies, and of course she wasn't crying and that she was glad he was leaving.

"Do you really have to go today though?" she asked him.

"Why wait?" was his simple response.

And when she saw the determination and excitment in his eyes and how he gripped Mudkip's Pokeball, she couldn't bring herself to ask him to stay.

She walked with him to Petalburg and saw him off. And he was gone, off into the woods and to Rustboro to get his first badge.

For the next four months she pretended that he had done something horrible (again) and she was simply not talking to him. And in a way, he had done something horrible because now she was bored and had no one to help her with homework and maybe just a little bit sad and lonely. But only a little bit.

…

He came back and she saw that he had changed. He was quieter, and she could have sworn he was taller, but maybe it was just his posture. He had lost some of his cockiness, even though his smirk was the same.

His hair was messier. She couldn't tell at first because he wore his dumb hat all the time, but when he took it off his hair was all over the place. And even though she said it looked stupid, it made him look older and maybe just a little bit cool.

As for his Pokemon, Mudkip and Nuzleaf had evolved to Swampert and Shiftry. And he had a Lairon now.

And he had four badges.

They had lunch together, with both of their families. Max wouldn't shut up about his badges the whole time, and her dad had to tell him to leave Brendan alone because he needed to eat and he could ask him about his journey later.

But after lunch she dragged him away and Max was outraged but couldn't do anything because Brendan was her friend and not his.

"So," he said, after she pushed Max out the door for the last time and locked him out. "What've you been up to?"

And she told him about school and the new friends she'd made and how interesting her life was even though he was gone and how she met Steven the other day going to a dinner with her dad and no she didn't get to talk to him but it was still really cool and boy did he miss out.

Then he told her how he met Steven a few times and even got some training once, and she called him a liar even though she actually believed him, and he got a bit mad about that and wouldn't tell her anything else.

But eventually he relented and told her about the rest of his adventures in places like the desert on Route 111 and Mount Chimney and Meteor Falls where he trained with Steven for a week before coming home.

"What is it with you and training?" she asked him.

"I had to get stronger before coming back to challenge your dad," he replied, with a determined half-grin.

And then she remembered her dad was a Gym Leader and he came home to mainly challenge him and not visit her and got a bit mad at him again.

Then he gave her the Moon Stone he found at Meteor Falls and she forgave him.

Then she asked him if he was sure about it because weren't Moon Stones really rare? And he said he already looked up all the Pokemon that evolved with Moon Stones, and yes he was sure he didn't need it. Probably.

And she got a bit mad again and told him she hoped he would lose.

In return he snuck her the most infuriating smirk when the referee declared him the victor.

After the battle he was really quiet and finished his dinner early and excused himself and went outside.

She followed him after finishing her own plate and told him he only won because he was lucky and her dad was holding back anyway.

He didn't correct her, and she was worried.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Your dad is really, really strong," he said simply.

"Well of course," she said proudly. "You're never going to be as strong as him."

And he looked frustrated for a moment, but it disappeared and he gave her another smirk.

"I'll catch up to him one day," he said. "You'll see."

He still moped for a week but eventually left and she was lonely again and decided she should have let him mope a bit longer and what kind of jerk only stays for a week before taking off again.

Then she told her friends at school about this, expecting to hear their agreements that yes indeed he was a jerk and she was too good for him, but instead they told her she had a crush on him.

She did not. That was gross and he was gross and annoying and a jerk and she hoped he tripped and twisted his ankle while crawling in a cave somewhere.

And her friends informed her that it was really cute how upset she got when talking about him and she stormed off telling herself that she really did hate his stupid face.

…

One night she got an email from him, which was weird because he hardly ever responded to her emails, let alone sending her any on his own. It was a picture of his badge case, with all eight badges in it. There was no message, but she understood.

The next day at lunch her parents told her Brendan was competing in the upcoming Ever Grande Conference and the four of them were going with his parents to Ever Grande to watch.

And while she pretended to be surprised that he had qualified, secretly she was happy because he had already told her.

They got off the boat and she saw him and he looked different again. He was definitely taller now, and seemed have regained a bit of his cockiness. But now he also radiated confidence, and his slight smirk was backed by an even, almost fierce look in his eye. After staring at him for a while she decided he wasn't as gross as she pretended he was.

When it was her turn to talk to him, though, she pointed out a bit of dirt on his shoulder and said he was gross and not to stand so close to her.

They browsed some of the booths set up near the stadiums for a bit, and then it was time for the battles to begin.

He made it to the semi final round as the entire stadium cheered him on. According to his dad, he had been interviewed a few times during his journey, and was one of this year's dark horses. Professor Birch almost fell out of his chair in excitement as Brendan entered the stadium and calmly raised an arm to greet the audience, triggering a tumult of cheers. If he won just two more battles, he would be the youngest trainer to win the Ever Grande Conference in its history.

His opponent was a few years older than him, a guy named Tyson. Later May found out that they were rivals, and had battled each other before. And that, against him, Brendan had lost in a standard Pokemon Battle for the first time in his life.

Their battle was probably the highlight of the entire tournament, even more so than the final round.

But in the end, as hard as Brendan and his Pokemon tried, Swampert fell to Tyson's Sceptile, and for May, the Ever Grande Conference was over. She didn't even remember the last battle. All she was thinking about was that the incredible boy she had grown up with had lost.

She found him after the tournament, leaning back on a park bench with a magazine over his face.

"Have you really only been a Pokemon trainer for a year?" was the first thing she said.

He snorted and the magazine fell off. He looked exhausted. "Eight months," he corrected.

She picked the magazine off the ground and placed it back on his face. Littering was bad.

He took it off and placed it on the bench and gave her a dirty look.

"I still can't believe you made top four," she said, sitting down next to him.

"I could have taken the next guy, you know," he said, staring ahead of him at something she couldn't see. "I just didn't expect that Sceptile to get so damn _fast_."

He let out a deep, slightly shaky breath. "...I was so close."

"Why didn't you just use your Magcargo?"

"That stupid lizard has Earthquake."

"Oh."

They sat there and she wondered what would have happened if he had won the Ever Grande Conference and if they would still be here talking.

Once a trainer earned all eight badges they got to compete in the Ever Grande Conference. A winner of the Ever Grande Conference had the right to challenge the Elite Four. And after that, they would challenge the Champion for the title.

If Brendan had won today, he would be on the fast track to reaching his goal. He wouldn't have any more time for her, and she wouldn't be able to bring herself to bother him.

So no, they probably wouldn't be here talking if he had won. And for a moment she felt like he was slowly pulling away from her with how far he was going in just eight months and she was never going to to keep up with him. And one day he would leave her behind and it was all his fault for moving so fast and if he really wanted to run off then maybe he should and never come back.

But she was starting to have some semblance of control over blurting out things that she didn't really mean, so she didn't say it.

"Well what are you going to do now?" she asked instead.

"Don't know," was his answer. "I have an invitation from this guy Scott to go to some island, but I don't think I'll take it."

"Why not?"

He just shrugged. "I dunno."

"That's not an answer," she said. But she didn't press him because she was glad he wasn't going off to some island for who knew how long.

"Hey, your birthday is coming up," he noted.

"It's a week after graduation," she replied, pointedly.

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that," he said. "Want me to come? I'll bring balloons."

"No. And don't bring balloons."

And even though she didn't hear from him for another month, as her name was called and she stepped onto the stage to receive her diploma (it was just basic trainer's school, and while she didn't really mind, she didn't understand why it had to be so showy), she saw his stupid white hat in the crowd and _was that a sling on his arm_.

She asked him about it later and he told her that he dislocated his arm while training in Meteor Falls with Steven and they got in a fight again when she asked him that if he was so busy training that he couldn't come down and visit, why didn't he stay in Meteor Falls forever.

And then on the morning of her birthday, he showed up on his Tropius and told her to get on, and she looked at him like he was crazy and he said they were going to a famous restaurant in Lavaridge where they cooked the noodles with the heat from the hot springs. And even though she said it sounded gross and there was no way she was going to get on, she did eventually. And it was delicious.

At her party later he gave her another present. It was a red bandana and he explained that she would need something to keep twigs and dirt out of her hair if she went traveling. Also to hide her messy hair if she didn't have time to fix it on the go.

She put it on and he made a weird face like he was holding in a laugh and she half-heartedly threw the box at him. She didn't take it off though. She thought it looked cute.

The next day he was waiting in her kitchen when she came downstairs with bedhead and in her pajamas and clutching her pillow. He said hi and she screamed and threw the pillow at him and ran back upstairs to change and shower and do the rest of her morning routine. And when she came back down he showed her the picture he had taken of her and _oh god she looked awful_ , and she jumped him and wrestled his PokeNav away to delete it.

"You messed up your hair again," he pointed out.

"You're horrible," she said to him, "And gross and annoying and I hate you so much."

He rolled his eyes and tossed her a paper bag with her favorite bagels from her favorite bakery in Rustboro.

"Hurry up and eat," he said. "We're going to Oldale. You're a Pokemon trainer starting yesterday."

And so after taking her sweet time to enjoy the bagels while he watched impatiently, they went to the Oldale Pokemon Center where she registered herself as a Pokemon trainer.

"So," he said, as she returned from the front desk. "How does it feel to be a Pokemon trainer?"

"Like I'm missing something really important," she replied, glancing pointedly at his Pokeball belt.

He gave her a small smirk and tilted his head at the door. "Let's go then."

And so they went back to Littleroot to the lab where his dad was late, and as they waited, she was practically jumping out of her seat.

"Excited?" he asked smugly.

"No," she said, and as an afterthought, added, "Maybe I'll pick Treeko just to spite you."

"Half my team knows Ice Beam."

"Why?"

"Just to spite you."

"Very funny."

And eventually Professor Birch arrived and she picked Torchic because she had already decided a long time ago that the fire type was what she was going to pick. Because maybe one day he would battle a really strong grass type again and she would be there to cover his back. Or something.

She wasn't sure what she had been thinking at the time but Torchic was super cute anyway.

"You're not going to name it something stupid like Snuffles, are you?" asked Brendan warily. "Because it's going to evolve and one day you're going to have a Blaziken named Snuffles and that's probably illegal."

She had thought for a very long while on what she was going to name her first Pokemon and really couldn't come to a good answer.

"I don't think I'm going to name it after all," she replied.

"Why not?"

Because he didn't do it, and it would feel weird if she did. But she wasn't going to tell him that.

Instead she stuck her tongue out at him as she held and petted her new Torchic. "That's a secret."

He simply rolled his eyes and they thanked his dad and they left to go sit outside.

"So," he said after a while. "What are you going to do now?"

She looked at him, and back to her Torchic who chirped happily at her, and back to him, and said, "I'm not much of a trainer."

"Nope."

"Oh shut up."

"You're thirteen now though," he said. "You've got a whole year meant for traveling before you have to even think about going back to school."

"Is that what you're going to do?" she asked. "Go back to school?"

He shrugged. "Probably not. Might go to Kanto and challenge the Gyms there. I haven't decided yet."

"Oh."

She remembered when they were ten and he asked her if she wanted to travel Hoenn together when they were old enough and she said no, because he was gross and traveling was gross, and why on earth would she want to get lost in forests and caves and get mud and dirt everywhere especially with him.

And now that he had already done his traveling through Hoenn and gotten all his badges, there was no way she could ask him to travel with her. But it was only because she didn't want to travel alone, and none of her friends were becoming trainers yet, so he was the only remaining option.

"You're stupid," she eventually said.

"Where'd that come from?"

"From you being stupid."

Because it was all obviously his fault.

She spent a few days moping and playing with Torchic and wondering what she was going to do. She half hoped that he would disappear again and solve her dilemma for her, but instantly regretted it because she always hated how he would just run off like that without consulting her.

It was strange to hear all the noise his Pokemon were making next door every morning. And even though she wanted to be mad at him for being loud, she couldn't this time because she was glad he was around.

She asked her dad about it, asking if he thought she could challenge the League like Brendan did. And after a long conversation, and regardless of what her dad thought, she decided that it wasn't for her.

But she still wanted to go traveling. She didn't want to do it alone, but maybe something would work itself out.

She gathered her courage together one day and packed a bag. When her parents found out, they went and bought her all sorts of traveling gear, and helped her pack a bigger bag and oh god it was going to be a pain lugging all this junk around.

Brendan came over and asked her if she was leaving, and she said yes.

"Want me to come along?" he asked.

And she stared at him in disbelief for a moment because he could have saved her a week of agonizing over things if he had just _said so sooner_ and _what was wrong with him_ and threw her bag at him which he ducked, and the bag wasn't zipped up right so her stuff went flying everywhere.

And he watched her clean everything up while laughing himself silly asking if she really spent the past week working herself up to ask him to go with her and did she think it was a marriage proposal or something and she absolutely _hated_ him.

* * *

More notes:

I probably googled coalescence 20 times since I started this fic just to make sure I didn't spell it wrong. That would be pretty embarassing.

I'm really not sure how May ended up so tsun. I only meant for a little bit but things kind of got out of hand as I was writing. Oops.

Second part (probably a third too because of length) coming eventually.


	2. Chapter 2

And it begins.

* * *

They traveled together.

Max wanted to come along, but her parents said no because he was only ten years old and still needed to go to school. And even though some kids left when they were ten, and Brendan was coming along anyway so it was perfectly safe, Max gave in because he was a nerd and wanted to go to trainer's school after all.

They stopped by the Gym in Petalburg to say hi to her dad, and met the sickly green haired boy that went to the same school that was in a different class and always absent.

He came to the Gym sometimes to watch battles. But they had never really talked because Wally was quiet and shy and never stayed very long.

She always thought he was younger than her because of his height and youthful face and when she expressed her surprise that he was thirteen, he turned scarlet and suddenly it was really awkward.

Her dad told them to help Wally catch a Pokemon, so they went to Route 102 with a Pokeball. To her indignation, Brendan said he couldn't be bothered helping them catch a Zigzagoon and tried to fish up a Corphish from the pond instead.

So when Wally came out of the bushes later, holding a Ralts, Brendan slipped and fell into the water in surprise and May told him he deserved it for being rude.

(He griped about it for the rest of the day, about how rare Ralts was and how Wally just found one in a bush and took it with him without even battling it.)

They left Wally behind and promised to battle him in Verdanturf when they passed there later. Brendan sulkily muttered, "Not me," and she elbowed him for being a jerk.

…

They went to watch a Pokemon Contest when they got to Rustboro because she was curious, despite Brendan assuring her it was pointless and boring. And she thought it was the greatest thing ever and decided to become a Pokemon Coordinator right there, and even though he wouldn't stop rolling his eyes and telling her contests were dumb, he seemed to be happy she had found something she wanted to do.

(That didn't stop him from letting out a snide, "I told you so," some time later when she lost her first contest, and she absolutely _hated_ him again. He gave her a pep talk later that actually made her feel a little bit better, but she still hated him.)

When they passed the Gym, which required challengers to have two Pokemon, he realized she still only had her starter. So they went to Route 116 to see if she could catch something.

About an hour later she caught her first pokemon after chasing it through the grass for twenty minutes while Brendan lazily watched from the shade.

But it was worth it because Skitty was super cute, the absolute cutest thing she had ever seen, and she spent another hour playing with it while Brendan busied himself battling the trainers there.

Torchic quickly got jealous and started chasing Skitty around again and eventually she had to pull them apart.

When Brendan came back from his Pokemon battles and saw her sitting exhaustedly under a tree with her two Pokemon on either side of her, growling at each other, he just shook his head and laughed.

"I feel like a mom," she said tiredly.

He shivered.

"What?" she asked.

"You being a mom," he said, making a weird face.

And so the first order she ever gave Skitty was Tackle, directed at her traveling partner.

It was a very good start, she decided.

…

She caught her third Pokemon when they went back through Petalburg Woods and it was an accident.

It was a Wurmple and it crept up and spooked the living crap out of her as they were eating lunch so she scrambled away and threw the first thing she found at it, which just happened to be one of the empty Ultra Balls Brendan had been polishing a few seconds ago.

Needless to say the capture succeeded.

She was normally terrified by bug Pokemon, but upon closer inspection Wurmple was sort of cute. At the very least it was cuter than most of Brendan's Pokemon.

She decided to keep it.

(She also tried to give Brendan money for the Ultra Ball but he turned her down so okay. It seemed he was too upset at an Ultra Ball being used on a Wurmple to care about money.)

...

They went to Dewford and she wasn't sure why. But he told her there were beaches everywhere (she liked beaches but that wasn't the point) and for a while she suspected that he just wanted to see her in a swimsuit, and what if he was interested in her in _that way_ and how weird and gross that would be and that it was absolutely not happening. But once they were there, she changed into her swimsuit anyway and they went to the beach together.

But while she caught him looking at her a couple of times, for the most part he seemed distracted by something else. And when she asked him if he was checking out all the other girls on the beach, he confessed that he heard there were some pirate guys poking around the caves recently and he wanted check it out.

She was pretty mad about that, but she went with him anyway.

She got even madder afterwards because it was dark and creepy and even though she felt mostly safe because he was there and his big metal dinosaur was protecting them, she would still much rather be in the sun and _what was it with him and caves_.

In the end they found a giant glowing cave painting of ancient Pokemon, but no pirates.

…

They arrived in Slateport and went on a not-date in the markets. Everything smelled like fish and it was gross and she hated him because her first date smelled like fish, but deep down she was happy despite the smell. But only a little.

Then she wanted to buy a rather large Raichu Doll and he pointed out that they were traveling and asked her where she planned on keeping it. And even though he was right, she kind of hated him again.

He bought her a TM for Thunder Wave instead, telling her it would be _practical_ and _useful_ for Skitty. She would have rather had the Raichu Doll, but the TM was nice too, she supposed.

Then later he asked to borrow it and she got mad at him again.

…

They headed north, to Mauville.

She couldn't believe her eyes when they reached the gates. It was this _huge_ building and it took a while for her to process that most of the city was indoors. And Brendan acted all smug because he had already been there before.

They stayed for a week, checking out all the stores and the food court. She tried battling Wattson and actually got to his last Pokemon because Torchic _evolved_ but still lost to Manectric and that was that.

Brendan offered to help her practice more, but she'd had her fill of battling for a while, so she declined.

They went west, to Verdanturf, where a Pokemon Contest was being held.

There they met Wally again, who had moved there from Petalburg. She reluctantly battled him because Brendan wouldn't, and won.

At first he was really down, but promised that he would become a stronger trainer one day and challenge them again. And Brendan offered to help him train while May prepared for her contest, and she thought that was really nice of him.

Later he confided to her that he only did it because watching her prepare for a contest was so incredibly, mind-numbingly boring, and she decided he was still the same old jerk.

She participated in the Pokemon Contest and won her first ribbon. And she was so happy that she forgot herself and hugged him, and he awkwardly patted her back, and then she realized what she was doing and shoved him away. And it was in public so people started laughing and teasing them and _it was all his fault_.

They said goodbye to Wally and headed back to Mauville to go north.

…

"There's a shortcut through the desert," Brendan suggested.

She grabbed him by his collar and pulled his face close, closer than it had ever been in recent memory, and looked him right in the eye. There was nothing embarrassing about it, as she was very, very serious.

"Listen carefully, Brendan Birch," she said. "I am _not_ going into that sandstorm."

"But there's-"

" _No!"_

And so they went west and through Fiery Path. And even though it was hot and sweaty and dark with Koffing and Zubat everywhere, at least she wasn't drowning in sand.

It was a long stretch of no civilization as they made their way to Fallarbor. She decided she absolutely hated camping, even though he was doing all the work. Neither of them could cook either, so she would be in her tent sulking and trying to make the food they brought from Mauville last. For once he showed some consideration, letting her have most of it and living off berries and granola bars himself.

"You never learned how to cook from your mom?" he asked her once.

"My parents didn't want me near the stove," she replied.

"You have a Pokemon that can _breathe fire_ ," he pointed out.

She supposed he had a point, but she still wasn't going to learn to cook. Not for him anyway, he was a jerk.

When they got to Fallarbor she participated in the contest there and lost again. But it was her own fault for not paying enough attention towards the end. She would get over it.

"There's always next time," he said. "Then again maybe you'll lose next time too so who knows."

Sometimes she felt that his needling was making her tougher emotionally. Sometimes she wondered if he was teasing her because he liked her.

Today wasn't one of those times, and she threw her soda can (empty of course) at him and stormed off. She wasn't actually that mad, but it was a great way to vent.

It was almost like he was doing it on purpose.

…

They went to Meteor Falls and it was beautiful.

They only explored the first cavern, because he said the wild Pokemon got stronger and more aggressive as you went further in, so it was too dangerous. She thought he sounded a bit apologetic, like he was sorry he wasn't strong enough to take her there. That was sweet.

Then he said," Well maybe someday when you stop being a wuss we could go check it out," and she decided there was nothing sweet about him whatsoever and she hated his guts.

As they were about to leave, she caught him staring wistfully at the waterfall. His hand hung at his side, brushing Swampert's Pokeball and his fingers twitched. When she moved to the side to glance at his face, she saw a fleeting shadow of frustration as his eyes stared at something she couldn't see.

And all of a sudden it was gone and he closed his eyes and let out a shaky sigh.

"Are you okay?" she asked. He was tough enough that she didn't have to worry about his pride at being seen at a bad moment. And his ego could stand being bruised a bit anyway.

He turned to look at her, and she could almost hear gears turning in his head as he thought of what to say to her.

"I'm fine," he said.

"You didn't look fine."

"I'm _fine_ ," he insisted, and that was the end of that.

…

They realized they had managed to skip Lavaridge somehow, and she insisted on backtracking.

"We've been there before though," he pointed out. "We got noodles at that one place."

"Exactly," she said. "It was delicious and we're going again. I love noodles."

"I thought you said it was gro-"

"No I didn't, shut up."

He couldn't really argue with that, but refused to go all away around again, so they compromised and flew on Tropius.

Afterwards, as they lounged around on the couches at the Pokemon Center lobby, they noticed something on the TV. There was a report about some men in hoods stealing a meteorite from a Professor Cosmo at Meteor Falls.

Brendan said he was heading out and would be back later, and just up and left. And she had seen what Flannery looked like in a magazine and couldn't help be suspicious as to _why_ he was heading towards the Gym.

"Is she your type?" she asked him when he came back hours later, with her face hidden behind a magazine of course.

"What the hell are you talking about?" was his tired reply.

He smelled like soot, but she wasn't in the mood to argue with him.

And she told him it was nothing and spent the night wrestling with the idea of whether or not she even _cared_ if he was interested in other girls, because he was gross and stupid and weird anyway and she hated him so why did her chest hurt?

...

They visited LaRousse City.

She wasn't sure if she liked how everything was futuristic. The sidewalks moved, there were holograms everywhere, and robots kept popping up and surprising her. On one hand it was clean and nice looking and no grossness and mud anywhere, but on the other hand she was beginning to miss the charm of walking through a Pokemon filled forest.

She was surprised to notice that Brendan looked to be perfectly comfortable here. There was a spring in his step and a glint in his eye that she hadn't seen in awhile. She always thought he was happiest crawling around in a cave, or swinging from vines in a jungle or something.

Everything became clear when she found out there was a Battle Tower.

It was here that he was in his element. As he won battle after battle, she cheered him on from the stands (even though she pretended to want him to lose). The opponents got tougher and tougher, but he was unbeatable.

And yet, even from far away she could see a faint desperation in his eyes. He was doing perfectly fine in each match, and his opponents never managed to get past his second Pokemon, if they even beat the first. But it seemed like he was fighting something else entirely, something that no one else could see.

It reminded her of his haunting look at Meteor Falls, and she couldn't help but wonder.

Eventually, he faced the current Tower Tycoon, an older girl named Rebecca. Her team was impressive, with a Metagross, a Tyranitar, and a _Salamence_.

Despite what May said to him before the match, she had complete faith in him.

But for the second time in her life, she watched him lose. Swampert missed Blizzard on Salamence at the worst moment and that was that.

Afterwards they went to a restaurant with robots in maid outfits. She treated him because she was feeling chivalrous.

"She got stronger," he told her lamely.

"Or maybe you got weaker," she told him through a mouthful of food.

He had a thoughtful frown, and his eyes got distant, and she thought she had hit a nerve.

"Y-you know I was just kidding right?" she said. "You're the strongest person I know."

He shrugged. "Your dad's tougher than me."

"You're only fourteen," she reminded him.

"Steven Stone won the Ever Grande Conference at fourteen," he said. "Your dad won the Silver Conference when he was fifteen."

"That's different," she said. "You can't be so hard on yourself for not matching up to Steven. That's crazy."

And the frustration she had been seeing recently appeared again for a moment, and he simply said, "I suppose."

…

They stayed in LaRousse City for a while.

One night she couldn't sleep and heard him get up and go out onto the balcony.

Her annoyance at him letting in the cold night air was overridden by curiosity when he didn't come back in.

"It's one in the morning," she said, sitting up in her bed. " _What_ are you doing?"

"Can't sleep," he said simply.

He was staring at the Battle Tower.

The past few months, she would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and realize he was gone. And if she listened carefully, she would hear what sounded like Pokemon battling outside. Sometimes they would be camping out, and she would peek outside her tent and see him in the distance, training.

She never understood what drove him. Why he was always training, always battling. Why he kept pushing forward as though desperately chasing after something. She just knew he was driven, and even though it was stupid and stubborn sometimes, she admired it.

"You and your training," she said. It wasn't a complaint. She had complained plenty when they were younger, to little avail. Now it was just an observation.

"Of course," he said. "Have to put in the effort if I want to be Champion."

There was that again. That thing he had been saying since they were… seven? Eight?

She never really thought about it. At one point in their childhood she had been too young to consider these things, and by the time she got older she had already accepted it. It was who he was. He was the annoying boy that she hated but not really, that trained and battled Pokemon all day that would become Champion because he said so and she believed him.

But after months of traveling with him and remembering his moments of apparent frustration and desperation, she needed to know.

"Why do you want to become Champion?" she asked.

He looked at his left hand, the one that he used to grab and toss Swampert's Pokeball (second from the front which was almost directly under his arm, and sometimes she wondered if it was weird that she knew this), and even though his Pokeballs were on his bed he gripped the air as though imagining something was there.

"I don't understand what you're asking," he said. "Why wouldn't I want to become Champion?"

She rolled her eyes. "What do you _think_ I'm asking, stupid?"

And he laughed and came back inside and sat on the floor against his bed, facing her.

There was something different in his face. Something like a hint of realization. Or maybe surprise.

"I ask myself that sometimes, you know," he said quietly. "I could qualify to be a Gym Leader pretty easily once I'm old enough. Maybe even an Elite Four member some day."

"Why then?" she asked. "Why put the extra work in? I don't know what happened to you, but recently it feels like it's driving you nuts."

"I'm fi-"

"You're not fine," she said. "Sure you're not crazy either, but you're getting there."

She wanted to know. She wanted to help. Something was bothering him this whole time. No one worked that hard unless they had something to prove.

"Let me help," she said softly. "Tell me what's been bothering you. You're an idiot, so it can't be helped."

He was stupid and gross and weird and stubborn and a jerk, and she needed to save him from his own stupidity and grossness and weirdness so on.

He did the thing with his hands again and stared at the imaginary Pokeball, and said nothing.

So she said nothing right back at him. She could be patient if she needed to be.

"...The day before your graduation, Steven told me I was in a slump," he said eventually. "And he was right. I felt like something was wrong even before the Ever Grande Conference. I wasn't improving, no matter how hard I was training."

There was a pause.

"To become Champion, you need to be special," he said. "Anyone can get eight gym badges, but there's some kind of superhuman level you have to reach in order to take on the Elite Four. I managed to feel it a few times, but…"

He trailed off.

She waited.

"It's like there's a door," he said, and his voice was almost a whisper, and she could hear the frustration creeping back. "Multiple doors, one after another. I've seen your dad on the other side of one. Tyson's got one foot in it already. And Steven's all the way at the end. And I'm stuck outside."

The hand holding the imaginary Pokeball clenched into a fist.

"What happens, May?" he asked after a minute of silence. "When you have a problem, and you try and try and you throw everything you've got at it, but nothing changes?"

"You try again," she said, as though it was the simplest thing in the world. Which, in her experience, it was. "And you throw more stuff at it and if you run out then you get more stuff to throw."

"I… see."

"Or you could give up I guess, but that's sort of lame," she finished, shrugging.

They stared at each other.

"That's… wise of you," he said. "I guess you're not as dumb as I-."

She threw her pillow at him. Then, just to illustrate her point, she picked it up and threw it at him again. Then a third time for good measure.

They laughed way too loudly for one in the morning.

She found herself on the floor facing him.

"So," she said when they were done. "Doors, huh?"

He smiled ruefully. "That's the mental image I have. Sue me."

She thought about how he had always said he would become Champion. How he trained all the time to work for it. How he had this daunting task ahead of him, but boldly moved forward towards his goal.

He said he needed to be superhuman. In her eyes he already was.

She believed in him. And she believed that a bunch of imaginary doors wouldn't stop him. Not for long.

She reached for his face but changed her mind at the last moment and awkwardly placed her fist against his chest.

"You'll find a way," she said, confidently. "I'll make sure you do."

Their eyes met and an understanding passed between them. They weren't just two friends traveling together anymore. They were partners. Maybe even something more.

His brow softened and his Pokeball hand loosened.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I still need to do some thinking, but… thanks."

"You're welcome, stupid," she said, turning away with slightly burning cheeks.

They wordlessly went back to sleep afterwards, and she made sure to swap her pillow that had been on the floor with his clean one. Because that actually was his fault.

It kind of smelled like him and it was a lot less gross than she liked to pretend.

...

They went home for Christmas.

It was weird not seeing him every day, and when they did end up around each other, they never brought up the night in the room in LaRousse City again.

She wasn't sure how she felt about this, or how she felt about _him_. But there was a reassuring sense of security, because they had plenty of time to decide those things. She didn't want to ruin what they had by rushing, and presumably neither did he.

She tried her hand at making a cake on a whim. It didn't taste very good, so naturally she invited him over to help finish it.

He told her it tasted stale and soggy and there were lumps. But he kept eating.

She said she was never making him anything ever again, but poured him some tea. Out of a bottle from the refrigerator, of course. They'd had enough of her cooking for one day.

She made him a scarf for Christmas. It was black and red like almost everything else he owned. It was a really nice scarf, compared to all the failures in her closet. But he was never, ever going to see those.

For once, he didn't have anything rude to say about the scarf. It really was a nice scarf.

He gave her the Raichu Doll from Slateport. When she jokingly asked him why it didn't smell like fish, he said maybe she needed to get her sense of smell checked. After some pestering, he admitted to have memorized the serial number and tracked down another one at the Lilycove Department Store.

"I'd forgotten there was an entire half of Hoenn we haven't been to," she said, hugging the doll tightly.

He looked to the east and even though he wasn't wearing his Pokeball belt, his hand brushed the place where Swampert's Pokeball would have been.

"Ready when you are," he said.

They were just getting started.

* * *

Next part's going to be even longer and take a while. Haha woo.


	3. Chapter 3

A month passed and they set off again.

They flew to Verdanturf and discovered Wally was gone, off to challenge all the gyms. His aunt and uncle had been worried sick, but managed to calm down after receiving emails from their nephew every week, detailing his adventures. He had already beaten Wattson, Brawly and Roxanne and was going strong.

They promised to keep an eye out for him as they traveled.

May couldn't help but wonder if he would be okay challenging Flannery when Lavaridge was practically at the foot of a volcano.

"Could use a breathing mask," said Brendan. "There's not a lot of ash in Lavaridge, but better safe than sorry I guess."

"You think we'll see him again?" she asked him.

"That sounds kind of ominous."

"You know what I meant."

"Who knows," he said. "Hoenn's a big place and we're taking different routes. At the very least, I think we'll see him at the Ever Grande Conference."

And while she could still see a bit of frustration in his eyes as he mentioned the Conference, there was also the faint glint of steeled determination, and she decided he was going to be okay.

…

She crossed Route 118 by ferry because she refused to ride on Swampert with him.

"The last time we tried that I almost fell," she said.

" _Almost_ ," he stressed. "I caught you didn't I? And Swampert's gotten better at keeping the ride smooth."

But no was no.

"It's not even Swampert's fault, you're the one that won't hold on."

Nope.

He chose to spite her by overtaking the ferry on Swampert just to show that he could. She asked the captain if it was safe to have a trainer on a Pokemon surfing alongside them, half hoping he would yell at Brendan, but the man thought it was hilarious, saying something about kids and youth and how he wished he was a young man again.

"Wouldn't have had to wait four hours for the ferry if you'd just gotten on the damn Swampert," said Brendan as she stepped off the ramp.

"No."

"I don't get you," he said. "You're fine riding hundreds of feet in the sky on Tropius but you won't cross water on Swampert. You _can_ swim right?"

"Those are two completely different situations," she said. "If I'm holding on to you in the air, that's safety, but if I do the same thing on Swampert, it's emba- it's silly looking."

"That doesn't make any sense," he said.

"Well boo hoo to you, stupid," she said.

...

She still absolutely hated the wilderness, and Route 119 was no exception.

There was grass _everywhere_ and it was _taller than her_ and there were _bug Pokemon everywhere_ and if she had been alone she would have probably had Combusken cut and burn it all out of her way. Although that was probably illegal.

He released Tropius, and for a hopeful moment she thought he would offer to fly her to the next town. She would have made an exception, just this once.

But the Pokemon let out joyous cry and took off.

"This is where I caught Tropius," he explained, smiling fondly. Then he pointed at a tree in the distance. "Oh hey that's where I broke my arm."

"You _what_?"

"Broke my arm," he repeated, giving her a weird look like _she_ was the crazy one.

"How did you break your arm?" she asked, speaking very clearly, as though she was speaking to a complete idiot. Which she was.

"Well," he said, ignoring her tone. "It was dark and raining, and I'd just accidentally slipped down a muddy slope and landed on Tropius. So it was mad and started chasing me and Manectric around, and I thought I'd try to catch it because Thunder doesn't miss in rain. And I kind of slipped again and fell on my arm before I finally managed to catch it."

"That sounds... incredibly dangerous," she said. "You're crazy. How are you even alive?"

He shrugged. "I wasn't _trying_ to break my arm. It just happened."

Afterwards, complaining about how annoying the tall grass was seemed petty, so she didn't.

…

When it began to rain, Brendan said there was a Weather Institute they could take shelter in up ahead. So they ran for it. When they got there, they found it being guarded by pirates.

"It's Team Aqua," Brendan growled. "Again."

"Who?"

"They're a bunch of thugs that have been causing trouble all over Hoenn," he said. "I bumped into them a bunch of times while I was traveling. They're always up to no good."

She looked back at the pirates at the entrance, and back at the almost winner of the Ever Grande Conference standing next to her.

"They don't look very tough," she said.

He snorted. "Most of them only have Poochyena and Zubat. Maybe Mightyena and Golbat. Even you could take one in a fight."

She kicked mud at him.

He kicked some back.

And as she yelled at him for getting her socks dirty, and he told her they were already dirty to begin with, the pirates noticed them and attacked them.

Combusken and Swampert mopped the floor with them.

It wasn't the first time they had battled together. But it felt completely different.

Maybe it was because their opponents were tougher. Maybe it was because their opponents were dangerous criminals that wanted to catch them.

It felt like Brendan was actually _trying_ and she was _right next to him_ and _helping him_ and it was _exhilarating_.

They chased Team Aqua out of the Weather Institute together and for the first time in her life she felt like maybe she didn't need him to wait for her after all. Maybe she could catch up all on her own.

It was an absolutely amazing feeling.

Afterwards the scientists there told them that Team Aqua was after a Pokemon that they believed could control the weather. Which was false, because of some scientific mumbo jumbo that May couldn't understand but Brendan pretended he did.

Either way the scientists wanted to pass the Pokemon on to them for safekeeping. Even though the Pokemon was probably useless to Team Aqua, it was probably better to keep them from experimenting on it.

So May got a Castform, and it was also super cute.

She took it out into the rain like the scientists suggested and it _evolved_ only it wasn't actually evolution, and it was just changing form. Well, how was she supposed to know that?

Later she noticed that Brendan seemed troubled and asked him what was wrong.

"I've got a bad feeling, is all," he said. "About Team Aqua. And other things."

"You're worrying too much," she said. "Lighten up, sheesh."

He cracked a small smile. "Maybe you're right."

By now she had faith in his intuition, but still pretended otherwise.

They would find a way to deal with it when the time came. He was strong, and she would be stronger by then. Together, they could handle anything the future threw at them. As partners.

...

Fortree was a city in the trees.

Fortree was a city that didn't make sense.

"I don't understand," she told him.

"There's a lot of things you don't understand," he replied dully.

"No, I mean-" and she broke off to punch him in the shoulder, " _Why_ is it so high up?"

"It was to stay out of reach of the wild Pokemon, or something," he said. "I forgot."

"But there's bug Pokemon everywhere," she said. "And its _dangerous_ , and why would you want to live in the jungle, let alone so high up, and _why are we even here?_ "

"You can't say you've traveled Hoenn if you've never been to Fortree," he said simply. "There's no other place like it."

And she understood what he meant as the sun began to set and they watched it from the treetops. And she told herself that the only reason her heart was pounding was because of the height, and not because their elbows were touching.

…

It took a lot of convincing for her to agree to visit the Safari Zone, and she instantly regretted it when they passed a Pinsir.

Even though Swampert and Shiftry were already protecting them, she called out Combusken just in case.

"This place is terrifying," she said. "Also, what are you even _doing_? That's _disgusting_."

"Tracking," he said. "I want to catch a Rhyhorn. And I'm using a stick."

She didn't understand what it was with him and big burly Pokemon. And it didn't matter if he was using a stick to poke at the gross, smelly thing on the ground, it was still disgusting.

"You should get something cuter," she said, looking around. She spotted something round and blue in the distance that needed to be named something like Snuffles or Bloo and pulled at him until he looked where she was pointing. "Like that Marill."

He grunted disinterestedly. "I already have a water type."

She decided to catch it herself. She didn't need him.

"Take Swampert with you," he said. "Just in case."

It was sweet that he was giving her his strongest Pokemon for protection.

"Also, if you see a Heracross, catch it," he said. "I've been wanting one for a while. Swampert will know what to do, you just have to throw a Pokeball."

Of course. If she was going to wander off, she might as well help him look. Very _practical_ of him.

Marill was also super cute and an incredibly easy catch after Delcatty (she had finally gotten around to using the Moon Stone under her bed over their Christmas break) Paralyzed it with Thunder Wave . Maybe making _practical_ decisions every once in awhile wasn't so bad.

She never did find a Heracross, and was honestly glad. It wasn't creepy and gross like most bug Pokemon but there was still something unnerving about it. She wasn't sure if she would like her traveling partner having one on his team.

When she was done searching and playing with Marill, she found him waiting with his new Rhyhorn.

"Wow, Swampert looks exhausted," he said, upon seeing them. "What did you do?"

"We didn't do anything," she said. "I think he got tired just watching us play around."

And he glanced at the Marill in her arms and made a face.

Before she could tell it to use Bubble on him, it seemed to read her mind and went even further, hitting him in the face with Water Gun.

Another very good start.

...

They stepped into the Lilycove Department Store.

"We've been here before," she said slowly.

"Oh yeah," he said, frowning. "You got us lost and started crying."

And she remembered seeing a display of dresses a long time ago and wanting a closer look. And their parents were busy so she dragged him with her for company and they went from store to store window shopping until she realized how hopelessly loss they were.

"I was seven years old," she said defensively. "And I stopped crying really quick."

"Only because I took you to one of the information booths and they gave you chocolate," he said. "A lot of chocolate. And you were sick afterwards in the car."

"Let's do it again," she said.

"Do what again, throw up on a car?"

She pushed him into a trash can and stalked away.

…

She bought a lot of things that she probably didn't need.

But it wasn't every day she got to go on a shopping spree at the mall. And that was precisely why she had wanted to go traveling, to do all the dumb, irresponsible things her parents wouldn't let her do.

Five shopping bags of clothes and Pokemon dolls later, however, and she was starting to think she had made a mistake.

"So I'm curious," said Brendan, when they took a break in the food court, and he had finally rid himself of the bags he was helping her carry. "What, exactly, do you plan on doing with all this?"

"I'm still working on that," she said. "...Do you have any ideas?"

He gave her a disgusted sigh and left to get food.

When he returned, instead of the food he had promised, he had a flier.

"Unofficial Pokemon Contest," he explained. "There's prize money. Use it on postage and send your stuff home."

She didn't like how he just assumed she would win.

Well, maybe she did, but only a little bit. It was nice to have someone be confident in her.

They trained together because she absolutely had to win.

"You're not complaining about this as much as you used to," he noted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

And he dropped the issue because it was a good thing and he didn't want to ruin it.

She wouldn't admit it, but she was starting to enjoy training with him.

Maybe not the training itself, because it was still boring, and (mostly) not because she liked doing things with him, but because it made her feel stronger. And more confident, both in herself and in him and in how far they could go together.

He had followed his dream- no, his goal his whole life, and she was starting to see why.

Maybe it was time to set her sights higher. Maybe she too could become someone amazing.

She won the Lilycove Pokemon Contest, and there was something new in his eyes when they got dinner afterward.

It looked like pride, but she wasn't sure. It could have been admiration, but it didn't seem like it.

It was _weird_.

"Stop looking at me funny," she said, through a mouthful of food.

She thought he turned red, but he looked away and handed her a napkin.

"Stop being slob," he said, handing her a napkin.

That was more like it.

Later she sent her things home and tried not to imagine her parents' faces when they received it. They would have forgotten about it the next time she went home, right?

…

They took a ship to Mossdeep and she saw a school of Wailmer and Wailord.

"It's not a school," Brendan corrected. "It's a pod."

Ugh.

When they finally arrived, he suggested they challenge the Gym together.

She didn't understand until he explained that the Gym Leader was actually two people, and it would be a double battle.

"You can do that?" she asked. "Challenge them together I mean."

"Not officially," he said. "We won't get a badge if we win, but I'm pretty sure they won't mind the battle."

She agreed, but only if he treated her to dinner if they won.

"You're really confident recently," he said, giving her that funny look from Lilycove again. "What happened?"

Obviously she couldn't explain all her feelings regarding her newfound confidence, so she just made a face at him and stuck her tongue out.

They won. With no small effort on her part.

Brendan's new Rhyhorn held Solrock and Lunatone off while Delcatty Thunder Waved and Captivated and Charmed away until they were sitting ducks for Shadow Ball.

Winning felt _good_.

"You've gotten a lot stronger," said Brendan at dinner. "I'm impressed."

"It was mostly your plan," said May. "But yeah, I really have gotten better, haven't I? Maybe enough to challenge the Gyms."

"Maybe when you have more than two Pokemon capable of fighting," he said. "Beautifly and Combusken together only count as one."

"Combusken can fight."

He seemed like he wanted to disagree but didn't want to have that argument. Again.

Instead his point was proven later when they went on a not-date to the Mossdeep Space Center and the place was attacked by a bunch of people wearing hoods. The same people she had seen on TV in Lavaridge.

They called themselves Team Magma and they were trying to steal rocket fuel, of all things. To blow up a volcano.

Maybe it was a science thing because she didn't understand how that made any sense.

They battled together again and fought their way through the criminals, inspiring other trainers there to help.

But by the time they reached the leaders, her Pokemon were exhausted. She tried her best but the enemy Mightyena knocked out Combusken and that was that.

It didn't matter in the end because Brendan's Swampert and Aggron were handling everything, and then _Steven_ showed up and Team Magma panicked and ran away, but she felt she had failed. She had decided to be his partner and back him up but she had let him down. Let herself down.

It bothered her so much that she hardly registered that the _Hoenn Champion_ was thanking her for her help in stopping a criminal organization.

She took her frustrations out on Brendan later, even though she knew it wasn't his fault, and it was a while until he figured out what was bothering her, and she practically had to spell it out for him.

He laughed. He had been in a good mood all evening from how intense the battle had been.

"What's so funny?" she demanded, his merriment finally getting to her.

"You've had your first Pokemon for less than a year," he said. "You don't even like Pokemon battles. Calm down, you did fine."

"You did all the work," she grumbled.

"So?" he said. "I've been training since Mudkip could battle. That's like four years. Train more if it bothers you that much. You've got plenty of time at the rate you're improving. Must be your dad's genes."

It was one of those pep talks that always made her feel better without any of the usual needling. There was just something about how confident he was in her and in himself and how unbothered he seemed to be by everything that made her worries feel insignificant.

"I like you," she said, quietly so that he couldn't hear it. She wasn't sure if it was just in the heat of the moment or it was something she subconsciously needed to get off her chest but she didn't know and didn't care.

 _God_ being around him was confusing.

"Did you say something?" he asked.

"Nothing, stupid." And as an afterthought, she added, "Thanks."

"...Same thing you did for me in LaRousse," he muttered awkwardly.

…

She thought about things for a while.

She thought and thought and eventually came to a conclusion and asked Brendan to train her.

The Ever Grande Conference was out of the question, but at the very least she wanted to become a stronger trainer. She wanted to better herself, and this was a start.

There was that strange look in his eyes again when she asked him but he accepted her request and they began training together almost every day.

She had never understood how he was able to just throw himself into training like that, but now she was beginning to. Once she got into the habit, it became a lot easier.

She got stronger. Eventually Combusken and Marill evolved to Blaziken and Azumarill.

She challenged people they met to Pokemon battles. She lost and then she won and then lost some more and eventually began winning.

It was exhilarating.

They went back to the Lilycove Department Store to spend all her prize money and instead of more clothes and dolls she bought TMs and vitamin drinks for her Pokemon. When he helped her teach the TMs to Delcatty and Castform, he was super happy over something she didn't understand that he called BoltBeam coverage and she just wrote it off as him being a weirdo as usual.

Something in him eventually changed during all this and that cocky look in his eye came back.

They began battling each other. She knew he was always holding back, but over time it felt like he was doing so less and less.

She never did win, but there was still a sense of accomplishment.

They were in Lilycove again when they heard about Mt. Pyre being attacked by Team Magma and Team Aqua at the same time.

"I'll be back later," said Brendan.

It was now, after putting together what had happened at the Weather Institute and Mossdeep Space Center, that she realized where he had gone that time in Lavaridge. And that he had gone to ask Flannery for help instead of her.

She couldn't blame him. She was useless back then.

She wasn't useless anymore.

"I'm going with you," she said immediately.

For a moment it looked like he wanted to say something like that it was too dangerous for her, or maybe even that she would just hold him back.

Then he gave her that grin of fierce determination that she had missed oh so much.

"Let's kick some ass," he said.

They kicked ass.

Had it been a month ago, there would have been no way she and her Pokemon would have had the stamina to fight their way through all those enemies.

But that was a month ago. A lot of things had changed in a month.

When they discovered the two Team Leaders had made away with two mystical orbs, they tracked Team Aqua to their secret base in Lilycove and fought their way through the base and almost caught their leader before they escaped.

That wasn't even her fault. She'd held off and beaten an _admin_ for Brendan to run ahead, but there had been another admin after that who stalled him just long enough for the Leader to get away.

But they didn't give up. They didn't lose heart. Maybe she might have if she had been alone, but she had too much faith in her partner. And he confided he had too much faith in her as well to second guess himself anymore.

They hadn't been able to stop Team Aqua in their base, or Team Magma at Mt. Pyre, but they were just two kids trying their best. And for now, that was good enough.

She was stronger than she had thought possible when she first started her journey. She was no longer afraid of him leaving her behind, because she could see him in front of her now, and see just how far away he was.

No, not how far away. How close she was to catching up to him.

…

She didn't think it was possible for a city to make even less sense than Fortree.

Pacifidlog proved her wrong.

"I don't want to sound stupid," she began.

He looked like he was about to remind her of some of the dumber things she had said when they were little and throughout their journey, but she gave him a go-ahead-I-dare-you look and he reconsidered and decided it wasn't worth it.

It was nice that they developed this level of wordless communication. It saved a lot of time.

She simply gestured at the town and the wood below them and gave him a questioning look.

He shrugged. "Something about a Corsola colony under us. Other than that I don't know."

"...That doesn't make any sense."

"Just appreciate the marvels of human ingenuity," he said. "And thank the Corsola colony under us for their hard work."

Pacifidlog was nowhere as dangerous looking and infested with bugs as Fortree. It was actually a very beautiful town and she was glad they had visited it. But there was something about it that she didn't like that she couldn't really put her finger on.

Until the end of the day when she realized it was because they hadn't done any training at all because there was nowhere to do it here.

She needed help.

…

As their journey was ending, they went to Sootopolis and it was the most beautiful city in Hoenn.

A city carved out the walls of a giant crater left by a meteorite sounded like the most romantic thing. There was even a tree in the middle of the city said to be thousands of years old that looked like the perfect place to confess your love to someone.

Even someone as prickly and stupid about her feelings as her couldn't screw up here.

Leave it to the one bigger idiot than her to ruin the moment by pointing out the impracticality of living on a big slope and climbing stairs all day.

"I take back what I said in Mossdeep," she muttered. "You're an idiot."

"What?"

"I confessed to you then and you didn't hear," she said. "I'm taking it back now."

"... _What?"_

Usually he would say something to mess with her and she would be reacting and it was exhausting. It was really nice being the aggressor and being in control.

Maybe it was how beautiful and romantic Sootopolis was. Maybe it was how much tougher and more confident she had gotten over the past month.

They had fought their way through the hideout of a group of criminals and the Leader had _run away_ from them. They could deal with something as silly as teenage relationship drama.

So she kissed him. Nothing gross like anywhere near the mouth, but on the cheek.

It was a start. She was only thirteen.

"I like you," she said again.

"...I like you too," he said, after an appropriate amount of awkward sputtering. "I mean, if that wasn't completely obvious after all this time."

How long had they been together? Until how long ago had she finally managed to piece enough of her emotions together to understand what was going on between them?

Why did she think he put up with her attitude all this time? Why did she think she put up with his needling?

Afraid of ruining what they had by rushing things? What kind of excuse was that? Was she an idiot?

Well, better late than never, she supposed.

"What happens now?" she asked.

He snorted. "You're asking me?"

"Well you're always so full of answers when I don't need it," she said. "Why can't you be useful now?"

"Hey don't pin this on me," he said. "You're the one that confessed to me out of nowhere."

"Look around you, stupid," she said. "What did you think was going to happen? This is the perfect place."

"No it isn't," he said. "That tree doesn't even have leaves and there's a Gym behind us and-"

She wanted to take it back again. But not really.

"Oh forget it," she said. "Let's just go on a date or something. I don't want you ruining it any more."

They went on the date and it was honestly a lot less romantic than she had hoped because of how exhausting it was climbing all the stairs. And because the stupid idiot decided to say, "I told you so," whenever she complained about them. And also because they found an empty patch of land and he wanted to do some training.

Honestly, what was _wrong_ with him?

At the end of the day she kissed him again because why not?

So the next day when the whole city began shaking and the entire region's weather went out of control, she was so glad she had already gotten the whole confession thing, the date, and two kisses out of the way.

Reports came in about an awakened Groudon and Kyogre both heading to Sootopolis to presumably duke it out like they did in the old legends.

Oh.

She hadn't thought Team Aqua and Magma would actually pull it off.

"And of course this happens the very next day," said Brendan.

"You don't sound very surprised," she said.

"I think I ran out of that when you confessed to me yesterday," he said. "Now I'm just… annoyed, I think. At this horrible timing."

They held hands and stared at the sky as it went from a heavy rainstorm to scorching sun and back and forth again.

"What happens now?" she asked again.

And he gave her that ferocious grin.

"We do something stupid and dangerous, probably. You in?"

…

The two of them went to Sky Pillar together to help save the Hoenn Region.

There was no drama about leaving her behind, about how it was too dangerous, and all that other dumb crap.

Well he started saying _something_ like it, but she cut him off with the best death glare she had ever given him and he never finished. He needed her to watch his back, and they both knew it.

Steven and the Pokemon League worked with the two criminal Teams to minimize destruction across the region and slow down Groudon and Kyogre. The two of them were sent to find Rayquaza, which, according to ancient legends, would stop the fight.

They fought their way up the tower together, facing down wild Pokemon stronger than most trainers they had met and battled.

It was a good thing they weren't most trainers.

And at the very top, they found what they were looking for. The myth that even Steven wasn't entirely sure existed.

They woke Hoenn's third legendary Pokemon together and nearly died when it smashed its way out of the tower and the floor collapsed under them with the ceiling coming down.

They chased after it on Tropius's back, continuously reminding themselves they were still alive, with mixed success.

"That was the stupidest and most dangerous thing we've ever done," she said, holding him tightly with her face buried against his back. "You're insane and I hate you so much."

"I should do this sort of thing more often, then," he muttered.

"Don't you dare."

They made it back to Sootopolis just in time to watch Rayquaza… do something to the sky and clear it, then roar Groudon and Kyogre into submission. The three Legendary Pokemon soon departed the city, back to Sky Pillar and wherever else.

They stayed in the air as Tropius soared in a circle around Sootopolis, her holding on to him with her eyes closed and him reading the news from his PokeNav.

"They're looking for us," he said. "The two kids that saved the Hoenn Region. Steven wants to know if we want to stay anonymous."

"I don't care," she said. "I'm exhausted."

"Anonymous it is, then," he said. "I think our parents would kill me if they found out what we just did."

"Probably," she said. "I already want to kill you myself."

"Well I'm still not entirely convinced we're alive, so…"

When it was all over, they collapsed on a couch in the Sootopolis Pokemon Center and fell asleep.

...

"I feel like if I'd been alone or with anyone else I'd be hiding in a closet, shaking," she said to him over breakfast the next morning. "Or maybe just dead. Probably just dead. Or nowhere near any of this to begin with."

"What's so special about me?" he asked.

"You're stupid and gross and weird and a jerk," she said, pointing at him with her fork. "And you're insane on top of it. And it's infectious."

He simply grunted. "I love you too?"

She wasn't sure if she liked how he just dropped _that word_ but after saving the region together, she supposed she could let it slide.

"I hate you," she said. "So much."

Afterwards he realized that the Ever Grande Conference was coming up and they began training again.

Now that their relationship had changed, she didn't feel silly holding on to him anymore as they Surfed across the ocean on Swampert. In fact, she enjoyed it. She paid more attention to his broad (well, in comparison to her anyway, he was only fourteen) back and his arms and how warm he was than the beautiful view around them.

For tradition's sake, they went through Victory Road and Brendan held back and let her and her Pokemon do most of the work because he'd already run the gauntlet once.

It was even tougher than Sky Pillar and she loved it.

And after he registered, instead of seeing Ever Grande City on her own, she stayed in the cave with him. It was just like old times during the summer, except now he had a sparring partner and she had something to do.

She still didn't understand what it was with him and caves, but supposed it wasn't so bad. It got pretty hot outside anyway.

Finally, it was time.

As he battled opponent after opponent, she saw that his desperation and frustration were gone. Instead, his fierce determination from so long ago was back in full. Like he knew nothing could stop him.

A literal year ago she had been upset that he was charging ahead and leaving her further behind with every step. Now she rooted for him, to break through every obstacle in his path and go as far as he could. Because no matter how far he went, she would be right behind him.

They met Wally again. His team looked much tougher than her own. If he wasn't focusing on the Ever Grande Conference, she would have liked to battle him just to find out.

Brendan really was a horrible influence.

She cheered for them both and eventually they faced off right before the semi finals.

Wally seemed to have turned into a genius. He controlled the match to end with Swampert against his Roserade.

But Roserade had taken too much damage from Aggron's Ice Beam (What was with him and that move? Was he still upset about Tyson's Sceptile?) and Brendan had a secret weapon, a berry that weakened super effective grass type moves.

Swampert's Blizzard ended the match and that was that.

"Next time," said Wally simply. And instead of the sickly, easily embarrassed boy they had met in Petalburg so long ago, in front of them was a rival that had taken Brendan down to his last Pokemon and forced him to prepare an ace up his sleeve and use it.

Wally had probably changed as much as she had. Maybe even more.

"Next time," agreed Brendan, and then added jokingly, "Next time I'm using May's Blaziken."

She elbowed him again for old time's sake.

In the final round, he went up against another trainer with a few years of experience over him.

He won. Just like she knew he would. After Sky Pillar and saving the Hoenn Region, there was no way he could lose here.

This time she was waiting for him at the same park bench. She had even brought a magazine.

He was a lot less late than she was anticipating. Later she found out that he had turned down his mentor _the Hoenn Champion_ for dinner to come right over.

"It doesn't feel like a year at all," he said, dropping down next to her. "Like, it's weird. Feels like time passed by really quick, but at the same time it feels we've been traveling for years."

"That stunt we pulled at Sky Pillar probably shaved a few years off our lives," she said. "So I'm not really surprised."

"Will you drop that already?"

"No. Not until we're like seventy."

"Is _that_ a marriage proposal?" he asked.

She poked him in the cheek and irritably pushed his face away to hide the embarrassment on her own. "Shut up, you're gross."

Eventually they fell into silence, her nonchalantly reading her magazine and him leaning his head back with a groan of pure exhaustion.

"So what now?" he asked eventually.

"You tell me," she said. "Don't you have an Elite Four to beat?"

He laughed.

When he was done laughing, he fell against her and leaned his head on her shoulder.

"I need a break," he said.

"You? Break? Please."

"I'm serious," he said. "You remember that thing I said about doors?"

"Yeah."

"I can see them now," he murmured. "The Elite Four and Steven. There's still a long way to go, but I can see them."

One day he would become the Champion. She had never doubted that.

But it was still kind of surreal to hear him talking about facing down the five strongest trainers in the region, in that matter-of-fact way of his. Like he was planning tomorrow's breakfast.

She liked it. It made things seem so simple. It gave her the confidence to try and do great things herself.

"I'll need a break," he continued. "Need to relax before I burn myself out again. But when that's done with, I'm going after them."

"So what now?" she asked him.

"I was asking you that literally a minute ago."

"Yeah, but I like it better when I'm asking you."

He sighed. "I don't know. Wanna go to Kanto?"

"Why Kanto?"

"Why not? It's where all this Pokemon League stuff started. Also, the Gym Leaders there are tougher than here."

And after a few seconds of thinking, he added, "Also there's Contests and a Grand Festival there."

"Better," she said. "Okay, I'm in. Wanna make a bet?"

"What bet?"

"I'm going to win the Grand Festival next year," she said. "I don't care where it is. Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, I'm going to win it. And when we come back, you're going to challenge the Elite Four and beat them."

He took a few seconds to consider it.

"You know how you suddenly got really confident a few months ago?" he asked.

"Um… yes?"

"Yeah I didn't mention it then because it would have made things weird, but that's really hot."

She shoved him away.

"You're _gross_ ," she said, while he laughed himself silly. "I am _never_ kissing you again."

She'd had a crush on this idiot for maybe half her life and now they were in a relationship and she was probably in love with him and god this was confusing and it was his fault and it was so much easier to just hate him.

When he was done laughing and she had stopped pretending to be angry, he straightened up and looked at her.

"So about that bet?" he asked.

She met his gaze and on his face was that fierce grin full of confidence and determination again.

"You're on."

* * *

My god I finished.

I'd planned on just doing something simple, maybe like 10 drabbles max and just a one-shot. Things got out of hand.

Please comment and review. I haven't published anything in maybe 5 years so some critique would really help.

Thanks very much for reading everyone.


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